Kev Mahserejian offers up his Week 16 Fantasy Basketball Sleepers, and his NBA Week 16 Sleeper Picks might include waiver-wire pickups who’ve fallen through the cracks into free agency. Roster percentages refer to figures from Yahoo! Sports fantasy basketball leagues.
Week 16 Fantasy Basketball Sleepers
Will Barton, SG/SF, Denver Nuggets (61% rostered)
With Jamal Murray out for the rest of this season with a torn ACL, the Nuggets will be splitting up the work among their backcourt to make up for the loss. While Nikola Jokic will see a larger share of the ball-handling/scoring role, he cannot do it all by himself.
Will Barton is the first add to look for on your waiver wire. He should be somewhat of a “must-own" player moving forward. He is a solid accumulator across-the-board who takes double-digit shots per game already. During Murray’s 4-game inactive stretch, Barton averaged 17 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2 threes while shooting 45% from the field and 93% from the free-throw line.
Barton can handle the ball, score, defend and act as one of the primary options along with Jokic and Michael Porter Jr.
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Daniel Gafford, C, Washington Wizards (17% rostered)
Daniel Gafford should have been a big add weeks ago but an unfortunate ankle injury shut him down. Now, with only Alex Len stopping him in the frontcourt, Gafford has a clear path to major playtime and usage in Washington.
The Wizards are terrible but they are still playing Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal major minutes, allowing the potential for plenty of open shots and rebounding opportunities in a well-paced offense. In 15.8 minutes per game in 4 games as a Wizard, Gafford is averaging 12 points, but 5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. Even without extrapolating or prorating, those stats are fantasy-viable.
He probably will not play a full slate of minutes even if he does start but just a jump to the range of 20-24 per game would be massive to create a floor that is roster-able everywhere. Just hope he does not hurt himself again as it always seems like he is marked with an injury of some sort.
Monte Morris, PG/SG, Denver Nuggets (15% rostered)
Another beneficiary of the Jamal Murray injury. Monte Morris missed roughly 10 games from March to early April but has returned and is playing a typically prominent role as a rotation guard. going forward, he is likely to start and take on the role of a complementary ball-handler next to Jokic.
During Murray’s recent 4-game stretch of missed games, Morris averaged 10 points, 3 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 threes, and a 55% FG. He is not much of a scorer but can provide a decent amount to match assists and about a steal per game. You are adding him to play the role of a glue guy on your roster with %’s that do not harm and general stats that don’t win you any one category.
Finished reading Week 16 Fantasy Basketball Sleepers?
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Did you miss Kev’s Week 16 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire report? Watch it now and scoop up those key free agents:
The playoffs are around the corner & @RotoSurgeon has the pickups you need to win it all! #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/7SwwGHVLNM
— The Game Day Hoops (@TheGameDayHoops) April 10, 2021
